I tested America.gov, the government's AI chatbot, on health questions
Dr. Céline Gounder asked America.gov 37 questions on autism, vaccines and more. Here's what it got right — and wrong.
On Tuesday at the Make America Healthy Again summit, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suggested artificial intelligence can provide patients with a second opinion that is more informed than any doctor in the country. He claimed it has the potential to free us from medical tyranny. Kennedy also stated that public officials who tell Americans to follow experts will no longer be able to dominate them.
Soon after, the White House launched America.gov, a platform promising to provide simple answers sourced from official government websites.
I decided to test America.gov by asking 37 health-related questions. The answers were often complex because official sources do not always agree. For example, when I asked about vaccines and autism, the chatbot neither sided with nor against the claim that vaccines do not cause autism, citing both CDC pages that present differing views. While it acknowledged that CDC pages do not all agree on a single conclusion, it could not verify a single federal stance covering every vaccine.
I questioned the chatbot on various health matters such as autism, vaccines, newborn hepatitis B shots, insulin, and raw milk. Its responses were inconsistent, often failing to mention crucial court orders or recent changes. For instance, it recommended the December 2025 CDC and HHS fact sheets on newborn hepatitis B shots without mentioning the court order that paused the recommendation.
It also mentioned the January 2025 Medicare Part D insulin cap but omitted the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act extension that replaced the pilot program.
The chatbot provided accurate information on topics like chest pain symptoms and poison control numbers, as well as Medicare Part D enrollment windows and Medicaid appeals. Its Spanish translations matched its English responses. Overall, the results showed that America.gov can provide some helpful information, but users should be cautious and verify its answers with their healthcare providers.
Written by urgent.news from CBS News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
